Four-year-old mare Misstumut made it back to back victories when successful over 2100m at Tauranga on Saturday and trainer Ben Ropiha is keen to campaign the daughter of Azamour further afield.
“She always has shown that staying ability, but she did have a few issues last season with bone chips in both front fetlocks, so just to get her to the Oaks last year was a big effort,” Ropiha said.
“She had those chips removed in July and has obviously gone the right way since.”
A former top-class jumps jockey, Ropiha has six horses in work at Te Awamutu in addition to riding trackwork for Stephen Marsh and working on the starting gates.
“My plan from the outset this campaign was to hopefully get two or three wins under her belt and then possibly look at Brisbane,” Ropiha said.
“I think she deserves her chance.”